Category: Craft Fair

Haverhill Library Comic Con

Published by Meghann Holcomb on May 31, 2018

We had so much fun attending Haverhill Public Library’s 4th Annual Comic Con. They really put on an amazing day with a variety of activities, vendors, and visitors. I’ll be doing a post later about some of the great vendors we got to know, but today I wanted to talk about little about the comic con and show off some of the pictures I took.

We got there early and got our table set up. We had worked hard on some new items special for this event. Including brand new Sonic Screwdriver treat tubes, comic book roses, some amazing geek-themed coasters and the trays I talked about in our last post.

They also featured some great classes and lectures during the day. The day started off with Cosplay 101, they had a talk about LGBTQ comics, a Cosplay contest and in the afternoon they had a lecture about Dungeons and Dragons and Stranger Things. They had activities all day for kids, including face-painting, making their own comics and a magic show!

We even brought some of our own props, including our own Yoda, droids and Darth Vader!

It was such a fun day and we love supporting local events. Can’t wait to be a part of it next year!

Getting ready for Comic Con!

Published by Meghann Holcomb on May 24, 2018

Last year at Christmas time I decorated these adorable trays with holiday paper. I had kind of forgotten about them until Kathy and I went on an adventure to AC Moore a few weeks ago. We happened upon the blank trays while we were wandering around and I thought….how fun would they be with some shiny paint and geeky themed paper?

It all starts with painting. I actually find making these trays a pretty zen activity….the layers of painting, adding the paper and then adding the layers of modge podge. (we love modge podge!)

Once the paint is dry, it’s time for the fun part! We picked up this amazing “comic” themed paper from AC Moore. (We really shouldn’t be allowed to go together. We get up to shenanigans!) I cut the paper into starburst circles, using the Starburst Punch from Stampin Up. It’s one of my very favorite punches, it’s perfectly sized to use for all sorts of projects.

Once all the layers of paper are added, I add a few layers of modge podge to seal them, and then they are given a spray with sealant.

These particular trays were bound for our trip to the Haverhill Public Library‘s 4th Annual Comic Con. The event was amazing and I’ll be back with a post all about it next week, including some of the amazing vendors!

Recycled Comic Book Projects Continued

Recycled Comic Book Projects Continued

Published by Kathy Kaczor on May 17, 2018

While the Recycled Comic Book Roses were a lot of fun, there are lots of items to be made from old comic books.

I made some book marks for the upcoming fair season. We have a super hero themed fundraiser for the “Lowe Syndrome Association” and the Comic Con at Haverhill Public Library. These bookmarks were fun and straightforward. I enjoyed searching through the books to find just the right panels to use for the bookmarks.

I also took some of the mini notebooks we’ve decorated and covered them with comic book pages. I made a template of the notebook and used that to determine if an image would make a good cover. Then I cut out the cover and glued it over the notebook. I used washi tape for the spine. Everything got a healthy coating of modge podge for durability and a light sealant spray to finish the book.

Look for these items at our upcoming fairs or custom order your own. They are great party favors and will make fun stocking stuffers for the upcoming Christmas season. (Yes I know it is only May but we crafters have to plan ahead!)

Unicorns!

Published by Kathy Kaczor on May 10, 2018

I have always loved unicorns. My childhood bedroom contained a vast collection of unicorn items and I had a Lisa Frank Unicorn Sticker collection that filled an entire binder. I don’t have quite as many unicorns decorating my home these days but I do have some lovely unicorn accessories and one very fun pair of unicorn leggings. My love for unicorns has tempered just slightly and I was thrilled to have the chance to make these unicorn card and giftbox sets for our upcoming fair:

Originally I was inspired by the unicorn boxes in this blog post by Crush on Color. I wanted something slightly different though and I had just finished making bunnies for Easter that can be found at the bottom of this post. With visions of unicorns floating in my head I altered the bunny design I had been using. I hand cut some concept horns and used the same ovals from my Layering Ovals to make both the bunny ears and the unicorn ears. I punched the flower crown using the now retired Blossom Bunch Punch from Stampin’ Up!

I then sat with my husband after the Easter fair feedback and we made a horn we then cut with the Silhouette. We kept the layering ovals for ears. I am still drawing on the eyes because I like the closed eye look better than the round eyes I used on the bunnies and I don’t have a better way than with a marker at the moment. I did swap the flowers for the also retired Pansy Punch from Stampin’ Up! and I added some coordinating bling to the prominent flowers.

There’s nothing better than new markers

Published by Meghann Holcomb on May 3, 2018

Do you remember when you were a kid and it was time to go back to school? Some kids got excited about new backpacks or new clothes. Me? I got excited about new notebooks and pens! Yes, I have a weird fascination with office supplies.

I love watercolor painting–the colors, the delicate look of it, the creating of a new thing. However, for crafting, watercolor paints tend to be messy and leave something to be desired. At least for me.

Recently, there has been a whole slew of new marker sets on the market (say that three times fast!) that claim to be “watercolor” markers. Meaning that you can color with them, but you can also easily mix colors and add some water the thin them down and create a more translucent look. I’ve been watching reviews with fascination, hoping to find a set I would like. After much deliberating, I decided to purchase the Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Watercolor Brush Pens.

From all the reviews I read and watched, they blended nicely and could really be turned into beautiful watercolor-like pictures and feel.

After receiving them I did what I always do with new paints, and make a color chart, labeled with the colors and used a little water to see how they thinned out. But then it was time to try them out!

You can see in some of the pictures a few of the cards I made using the new markers. They combine and blends so beautifully and the colors stay nice and vivid. I find coloring these card fronts really relaxing.

I also tried them out in making a few candles for our fair last week.

I loved how the colors softened on the tissue paper used for the candles and still remained bright. Plus, they helped give the images depth.

Over the Rainbow

Published by Meghann Holcomb on April 12, 2018

Belatedly, last Friday I realized we should probably have a sign for our table at our first craft fair.

I took pictures as I was working on this. I loved this spaghetti of rainbow pieces.

And here they are turning into little fledgling rainbows.

Once I glued all the pieces together (was covered in glue!) I cut the rainbows out and put them through the laminator.

Then I cut out letters for our words and attached them to clouds.

And our finished product! Everything is clipped on with clothespins, which ended up being a big pain, so before the next fair, I need to punch some holes and make it a little easier to set up. But I was really happy with my last minute sign!

We made it!

Published by Meghann Holcomb on March 27, 2018

We made it! Our first fair is over and done with. All in all, it was a good day. Sadly, it was a bit of a slow fair, so we didn’t see nearly as many customers as we wanted, but we made some great contacts and met some great people. We also got a good idea of how we want to set up for the fair and feedback about our items and prices. Not every fair is about what you sell!

psst. Those wreaths are a new item that will be in our shop later this week!

I was so happy with our set up, we brought some items to add height to the table and keep things organized. The only downside is I felt like I was inside a castle sitting behind them!

Another new item we bought for the table this time was a card rack! Kathy filled it beforehand and we just repacked it into a box full, once we got to the fair, all we had to do was pull it out. Great organization and time saver!

I tried to get some good shots of our table and items all set up. A lot of fairs ask for pictures of your display with your application!

Speaking of fairs, we’ve added a page to our website where we will be listing all of our upcoming events. You can check it here. We’ll be adding events on an ongoing basis, so keep checking back!

The Fair is coming!

Published by Meghann Holcomb on March 22, 2018

We’ve been so busy with life…..vacations and snow days and kids activities and broken feet, and all of a sudden fair season is upon us!

We’ve been working hard behind the scenes (and if you aren’t following our Instagram, you should! We post in progress photos of things and tidbits about what is going on.) to get ready for our first fair this weekend. We’ll be hanging out all day at the Spring Bash Vendor and Craft Fair at the Haverhill Amvets from 9 am to 2 pm.

We’ve got things from our shop, some new items and some of our custom order items to show off.

We hope to see you there!